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About the Reviewer Danny is an English journalist and writer who has reviewed over 200 products in the Computer and Electronics categories. He is a keen gamer and holds a Batchelor of Science degree from the University of Surrey. |
Read Danny’s Full Independent Review of the Asus 1015 below
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Amazon.com Price: $250.00 (as of 2013-05-23 18:05:13 GMT)
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are
subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon.com at
the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
Everything you could ask of a netbook, the new 10-inch 1015PEM-P Seashell answers. Powered by the new Intel Atom N550 dual-core processor, the new addition to the Eee PC Seashell series delivers more responsive performance to speed up your applications without compromising battery life. Thanks to the ASUS Super Hybrid Engine, you can take this mobile phenom wherever you choose and enjoy up to an incredible 13 hours of unplugged freedom.1 The Eee PC 1015PEM-P is encased in a smooth matte-finished shell that captivates onlookers and features the Intel Atom N550 processor with energy-efficient DDR3 memory support that’s specifically designed for netbooks for more responsive multitasking.
Plus, it boasts outstanding comfort with a chiclet keyboard, multi-touch trackpad, and convenient hot keys – granting you quick access to Express Gate, the mini-operating system, and control of the ASUS Super Hybrid Engine that instantly optimizes system performance. Throw in a generous 250GB hard drive with 500GB of ASUS WebStorage2 and you get the ability to store, share, and access your important data anytime, anywhere.
Key Features
- Intel Atom N550 dual-core processor that’s specially designed for a netbook to deliver responsive multitasking performance on the go (Learn more)
- Up to 13 hours of battery life1 for all-day, unplugged freedom (Learn more)
- Matte finish cover for stylish and smudge-resistant protection (Learn more)
- ASUS Super Hybrid Engine boosts performance and saves battery life (Learn more)
- Chiclet keyboard and large, multi-touch trackpad for comfortable, intuitive navigation (Learn more)
- High-speed wireless N and Bluetooth v3.0 for fast Web surfing and enhanced Bluetooth peripheral connectivity (Learn more)
- 750GB Hybrid Storage: 250GB hard drive and 500GB of ASUS WebStorage2 that easily backs up and shares your data anywhere you have Internet access (Learn more)
- 0.3 megapixel webcam with security lens adds additional protection
- Express Gatestarts up in seconds for quick access to the Internet, music, games, and more
- Intel Atom Processor 1.5GHz
- 1GB SO-DIMM RAM
- 250GB 5400RPM Hard Drive
- 10.1-Inch Screen
- Windows 7 Starter, 13 hours Battery Life
Danny’s Full Independent Review
Although there isn’t much visual change from the 1005PE, Asus’s new Eee PC Seashell 1015PEM has a dual-core Intel Atom processor and USB 3.0 connectivity. Like other quality netbooks the new N550 Atom processor has dual cores that run at 1.5GHz bringing it close to the performance of your average laptop and making for smoother video display and improved multi-tasking.
Much of the specification is unfortunately pretty standard and only offers integrated graphics with no digital video output, 1GB of RAM, and a 250GB hard drive, although you do get 500GB of online storage as a one-year trial (after which you have to pay for it).
There are a few nice features of this new model, however; one is a small rocker switch above the keyboard which alternately turns Bluetooth and Wi-Fi (or both) on or off in one direction and toggles Asus’ Super Hybrid Engine on and off in the other. This switches between Power Saving, High Performance and Super Performance, to save battery juice or boost speed – it’s up to you Both states are indicated by an on-screen icon so you will always know which mode you’re in.
The black case of the Eee PC 1015PEM we tested showed far fewer fingerprints than its glossy rivals. The 10-inch screen runs at resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels, which unfortunately cuts the bottom off many Windows dialog boxes. However the image is bright and easy to see even in bright light.
Streaming 720p video from YouTube was smooth but streaming a 720p video over our local wireless network didn’t work as well; although the details were crisp, occasionally the video would freeze or jump several frames to catch up while the sound continued playing. The speakers are a little on the quiet side and as so often the bass is lacking, but there’s enough volume and range to enjoy a movie.
The new External USB 3 drives promise transfer rates up to 5Gbps. USB 3 memory sticks aren’t as fast, but we saw speeds of 80MB/second copying files from a Kingston USB 3 DT Ultimate. That means you can copy 4GB of files in just over 2 minutes rather than around 20, which is a very welcome improvement.
The Eee PC 1015PEM is a bit heavier than it looks and the keyboard isn’t the best, with the sharp edges of the indicator lights scratching at our wrists, but the display is great, the battery very acceptable and it’s great to see USB 3 on a netbook. At this price the combination is great value.
